1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an integrated apparatus in which a gas-liquid separator and a diluter are integrally constructed. In particular, the invention relates to an integrated apparatus of a gas-liquid separator and a diluter in which a gas-liquid separator and a diluter arranged for use in a fuel cell system are integrated.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a fuel cell system in the related art, a gas-liquid separator is disposed for the purpose of separating water (moisture) from exhaust gas that is discharged from the fuel cell. One of various gas-liquid separators of this kind is a cyclone-type separator.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-373699 (JP-A-2002-373699) discloses a cyclone type gas-liquid separator that includes: a cylindrical main body portion whose upper and lower ends are tightly closed; an inlet pipe provided in the vicinity of and in a tangent direction of a cylindrical upper portion of the main body portion; an outlet pipe provided in a central portion of a top plate portion of the main body portion so as to be protruded inward and outward therefrom; a water storage tank portion provided in a lower portion of the main body portion; and a drain pipe provided on the water storage tank portion, wherein many ribs that give resistance to movement of water extend upward from a bottom portion of the water storage tank.
Besides, in the fuel cell system in the related art, a hydrogen diluter is disposed for the purpose of diluting an anode off-gas (hydrogen gas) discharged from the fuel cell with a cathode off-gas (e.g., air) so as to sufficiently reduce the hydrogen concentration before releasing the anode off-gas into the atmosphere.
An example of such a hydrogen diluter is a hydrogen diluter disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication. No. 2003-132915 (JP-A-2003-132915) which includes: a holding region in which the anode off-gas discharged from a fuel cell resides; a dilution region in which the cathode off-gas (air) discharged from the fuel cell is conducted, and the cathode off-gas is diluted by mixing it with the anode off-gas from the holding region; and a conduction portion that conducts the anode off-gas from the holding region to the dilution region.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-80728 (JP-A-2007-80728) discloses a hydrogen diluter that includes: an introduction chamber in which the anode off-gas is accumulated; a communication passageway that communicates between the introduction chamber and a cathode off-gas channel; a communication valve that changes the state of communication of the communication passageway, and that is closed when a purge valve is opened, and becomes able to be opened when the purge valve is closed; and pressing means for shrinking the capacity of the introduction chamber by pressing the introduction chamber from outside when the communication valve is opened.
Besides, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-140783 (JP-A-2008-140783) discloses a hydrogen diluter that includes: a holding chamber in which the anode off-gas resides; an anode lead-in passageway that leads the anode off-gas to the holding chamber; a cathode lead-in passageway that leads the cathode off-gas to the residence chamber; and an off-gas lead-out passageway that leads out the anode off-gas and the cathode off-gas, wherein an opening of the cathode lead-in passageway and an opening of the off-gas lead-out passageway face each other, and are disposed near to each other with a gap left between the openings.
However, the gas-liquid separator disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-373699 (JP-A-2002-373699) and the like normally has a structure in which a water pipe is provided in a horizontal direction for a water storage tank portion. Therefore, there is possibility of water residing in the water pipe when a diluter is disposed at a downstream side of the gas-liquid separator. Besides, since the gas-liquid separator in accordance with the related art has such a structure as to store water in the water storage tank portion by utilizing the gravity, there is also a possibility of failure in the gas-liquid separation and overflow of water. Besides, none of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-132915 (JP-A-2003-132915), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-80728 (JP-A-2007-80728), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-140783 (JP-A-2008-140783), etc. gives any description or the like of consideration of the relation between the gas-liquid separator and the hydrogen diluter.